Heritage Large Fowl - Phase II

[gjensen]

At one point, I seriously considered bring in some Austra Whites ...just to play around with but I caught myself in time.

We have already sold MOST of the Australorps, only holding back 4 hens and 2 cocks to provide eggs that have been promised. This will have been the first/only time we will have done such a thing...the eggs are free...

I did hatch some Australorp chicks for several FFA and 4-H kids but I have them all hustled away from here so I need to refrain form filling up all this empty space..

Empty pens? Blasphemy.

I had to adjust and make changes. Recover. Now I am going back to where I come from. And excited about.

 

[hellbender]

Empty pens? Blasphemy.

I had to adjust and make changes. Recover. Now I am going back to where I come from. And excited about.

I have one whole empty building! Additionally, we are re-modeling an older building which is a distance from the laying flock, and this will be dedicated to the SOP thing. Room for a whole bunch in that facility, in and of itself!

 

[Lacy Blues]

Well hellbender, I have just about had it with this show chicken stuff. All my show prospects combs
have been ruined by the polar vortexes. I have to start over again. Have decided I will never over winter
more than one coop again. Even if it means overwintering only one cock. If that means I don't have a
breeding project, then that's fine with me. Already did the purebred animal breeding thing with collies
for 15 years. At this point, after this winter, I think I may just enjoy my birds and if my replacement birds
happen to win, that's fine. But there ain't gonna be no hundreds of chicks raised here. Not even close.
Gonna build a 6 ft. extension on the big coop so it will hold 12 birds. 11 hens and 1 cock. Figure to raise
about 36 chicks a year. And no, I don't want any of you population genetics experts coming on and
telling me how that's not a sustainable population, and how my birds wll be inbred and weak and weedy
because of it. Because I don't care. I have already proved in collies it's not about the numbers, it's about
the choice of stock and wise selection. Yes. it takes a ton more study than just hatching more birds,
but I still believe it is doable.
Best,
Karen

Karen, the number and length of points on a comb add up to such a miniscule amount on the score card that it's hardly worth worrying about. They don't even do score cards anymore. If your birds have the right type, weight, color and outstanding condition, they will do well. Even if their points are shorter than what they once were. Of course, that also depends on the competition, but I think most people in your area have probably suffered similar fates with their birds so the number of birds at your local shows with shorter points will probably be so high that yours won't stand out at all.

Maybe you could adopt and adapt TheDragonLady's sleeping boxes to your situation and keep two cocks... just in case something happens to the preferred one. These polar vortexes are supposed to be quite rare so it may be 20 - 30 years before that happens again.

I do want to wish you luck and good fortune with your new plans and I sincerely hope it works out for you.

 

[Lacy Blues]

Empty pens? Blasphemy.

I had to adjust and make changes. Recover. Now I am going back to where I come from. And excited about.

I have seven empty pens! Yay! Of course once I have birds hatching, that will likely change.

Trying to reduce my flock size. Maybe I can get low enough at some point that I can actually afford to go NPIP some day. It just costs WAY too much in my state... at least right now.

 

[thedragonlady]

Question for those of you with egg shape hatchability experience and the genetics of passing the shape to the next generation. The pic. is of one of Kathyinmo's F'4' Delawares that I just put in the breeding pen. She consistently lays the egg that is on the right, one of the other pullets lays the egg on the left (as you face the screen). I have not had luck with hatching the more lightbulb shaped eggs and don't want to pass that shape along. That being said, she is only one of 3 pullets I kept to single mate over 2, possibly 3 of Kathys cockerals. What do you think??

Not a terrible egg shape. I don't like to hatch longer, narrower ones, as the Orp chicks can't turn , and try to come out the middle.

 

[Beekissed]

Not a terrible egg shape. I don't like to hatch longer, narrower ones, as the Orp chicks can't turn , and try to come out the middle.

That's what I was sort of thinking.....wouldn't the egg shape and size pretty much fit the needs of the bird and chick? My WRs are big ol' gals and were chunky chicks, I'm thinking their bigger, more round eggs would be suitable for the little tanks that come out of them. My New Hampshire is a small bird and she lays a consistently small, more oval egg and maybe that would suit the smaller chick that would result from her.

 

[thedragonlady]

Well hellbender, I have just about had it with this show chicken stuff. All my show prospects combs
have been ruined by the polar vortexes. I have to start over again. Have decided I will never over winter
more than one coop again. Even if it means overwintering only one cock. If that means I don't have a
breeding project, then that's fine with me. Already did the purebred animal breeding thing with collies
for 15 years. At this point, after this winter, I think I may just enjoy my birds and if my replacement birds
happen to win, that's fine. But there ain't gonna be no hundreds of chicks raised here. Not even close.
Gonna build a 6 ft. extension on the big coop so it will hold 12 birds. 11 hens and 1 cock. Figure to raise
about 36 chicks a year. And no, I don't want any of you population genetics experts coming on and
telling me how that's not a sustainable population, and how my birds wll be inbred and weak and weedy
because of it. Because I don't care. I have already proved in collies it's not about the numbers, it's about
the choice of stock and wise selection. Yes. it takes a ton more study than just hatching more birds,
but I still believe it is doable.
Best,
Karen

Karen,

It's not ALL about numbers. It is about developing your eye, and not keeping too many birds. Never keep birds that do not fit , or are not close to your ideal. Then you make sure that you have proper housing for them for heat, or cold, and feed and worm them well. I keep no more than a dozen hens, and have done that for years.They live in what my husband calls "The Chicken Hilton". With so few birds, you can afford to give them the very best, and it will be returned to you in spades.

 

[BGMatt]

Karen,

It's not ALL about numbers. It is about developing your eye, and not keeping too many birds. Never keep birds that do not fit , or are not close to your ideal. Then you make sure that you have proper housing for them for heat, or cold, and feed and worm them well. I keep no more than a dozen hens, and have done that for years.They live in what my husband calls "The Chicken Hilton". With so few birds, you can afford to give them the very best, and it will be returned to you in spades.

Keeping too many is where so many come up short I think. I mean a few backups is a good thing, and if you show sometimes it's nice to have show birds that are not your breeders, but by and large the vast majority of folks keep too many breeders. Keep it small, keep it simple and even large projects can be tackled. Just have to break it down into smaller chunks.

 

[Vamvakas]

Karen, perhaps it's time for you to come over to the 'Dark Side' and embrace these wonderful Transylvanian Naked Necks.

You could do a lot worse. They are quite hardy, excellent producers and gaining several folks interested in showing them

in SOP venues.

This is the story how Naked Necks were created.. It's a long story but I'll make it as short as possible.

It was long ago, can't remember the year but it was long time ago.. Sir Dracula of Transylvania was killing innocent humans for there blood. He then grew a soft side about killing innocent humans and wanted to stop his actions. Sir Dracula 2nd favorite blood was chickens but hated how there was feathers in the way on there necks. Sir Dracula then ordered his slaves to create a breed with no feathers on there necks so it would remind him of human necks. It took a long time for his slaves to create the naked neck genes but then it happened.

True story from the dark side.

 

[hellbender]

This is the story how Naked Necks were created.. It's a long story but I'll make it as short as possible.

It was long ago, can't remember the year but it was long time ago.. Sir Dracula of Transylvania was killing innocent humans for there blood. He then grew a soft side about killing innocent humans and wanted to stop his actions. Sir Dracula 2nd favorite blood was chickens but hated how there was feathers in the way on there necks. Sir Dracula then ordered his slaves to create a breed with no feathers on there necks so it would remind him of human necks. It took a long time for his slaves to create the naked neck genes but then it happened.

True story from the dark side.

That sounds as good as the others I've heard!